The sense of gap may be a tragic fact that Knicks fans cannot accept.
Last season, the big Apple City fish belly rise, iron-fisted coach Thibodeau entered the Knicks to reshape the system, the best head coach deserved, Randle transformed into a 24 + 10 + 6 all-round big forward, including the fastest improved player + best lineup second team, the team is in one fell swoop into the upper half of the East, surprising everyone.
Even if they still have to endure the fate of being overwhelmed by the same city nets, the call of the King of New York, at least is not so outrageous, and the future of the post-Anthony Knicks seems to be unlimited.
However, happiness comes quickly, and when it leaves, it is also caught off guard.
The Knicks have not been in a good situation recently, and Thibodeau has not been able to stop the decline after abandoning Kemba Walker, but instead has a wave of 2-6 losses (walkers have played a total of 10 wins and 8 losses), including the defeat to the Rebuilding Pacers, and the team has officially fallen out of the play-off ranks to temporarily rank 12th in the East.
Against the Bucks, the 112-97 defeat was expected, Randall faced the alphabet brother who crushed himself with dynamic and static talent, and only handed over the "refugee version" of the quasi-quadruple-double, 8 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 turnovers.
This kind of centralized playing style has always been questioned, but thanks to the explosion of Randle's regular season crosshairs last season, the successful transformation from the violent attack box flow big forward, it has become a projection hard solution that relies on the feel of the hand + blocking and dismantling the external bomb punishment + high-level policy to respond to the big core, and the ability to harvest data in a large package mode is first-class, and the Knicks can indeed make great progress.
Defeated by the Eagles in the first round, "Polite Trey Young" kills people and detonates madison Square Garden, and the Knicks all rely on big brother Rose to dream back to the bottom.
The star Randall is the "fastest player to regress", the data plunged sharply to 18.0 points, 11 rebounds and 4.0 assists, the shooting rate is only 30%, which is called a war criminal performance, after their own aggressive slash, it is not difficult to explain that the playoffs are restricted.
This season, Randle has fallen off a cliff, and the three-point shooting side has dropped from last season's 41.1% crosshairs + average .3 per game to 32.6% + 1.7 per game, and the real shooting rate after the relegation is only 52.3% inefficient and mediocre.
The lack of peripheral threats directly leads to the greatly weakened containment of Randall's external bombing as a cover man, and to carry more pivotal drama will only hurt the team. Not only that, but his role as a blocker to cover the basket, the proportion of the ball holder, and his personal will may not meet expectations.
The team lacked the backcourt drive to develop a strong attack, so it was understandable to let Randle carry the weight forward and increase the weight to 29.3% of the round share at the discretion, but it did not mean that you could always hold the ball.
Management's offseason reinforcement consideration is to introduce a vice-attacker at the level of Fournier + Walker to share the pressure of Randle's possession of the ball, rather than pursuing the so-called free market big fish.
But for now, the effect is not ideal, and the loss of defensive resources, whether it is the deterrent of the protective frame or the rotation rate is far less than last season.
The sesame seeds picked up are not only not fragrant, but also lose watermelons, which can be officially declared to end in failure.
Thibodeau's insistence on abandoning Walker can not fundamentally solve the problem, walker after the purchase of 8 million people to eat into a stable profit, even if it is to take the connection section to avoid the defensive colander attribute, can also play a role in horse racing. The scapegoat can only cover up a momentary mistake and can't carry the pot for an entire season.
As for today's war bucks digging out rookie Grimes can be used, and pulling out the "half-waste lottery" Knox to save the field, can not help the building will fall, blindly accusing Thibodeau is also not necessarily able to cover up the ugliness.
If the stubborn old manager can make Randall pull back from the cliff, rest assured that the right to carry dirty work, or wait for the trade to correct the offseason error operation, there is still room for correction.
But with the East rising this season, the Knicks may have a hard time getting a piece of the pie.
Thanks for your attention, welcome to discuss, Azhe is willing to "ball" with you to get the truth, all the way to the end of the world.